It has been the conventional practice in attaching labels to merchandise to utilize what is usually called a fastening gun. In the operation of such a device, the operator removes a preprinted label from a package of labels, threads the label onto the needle of a fastening gun and then applies the label to the article. The operator of such a device must use both hands in order to align the label with the fastening gun needle. Consequently, the operator is unable to hold the article to be labeled throughout the entire labeling procedure. Moreover, the operator must take care in the orientation of the fastening gun so that the needle does not point downwardly, for the label would drop off the needle. It has been disclosed that a material feeding mechanism can be incorporated with a fastening device in U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,498 to William Downie. This document teaches a staple gun with a tab dispenser magazine. The magazine is mounted on the front of the staple gun. A tab tape is guided from the magazine and fed into the work as the user operates the staple gun. The tabs are disposed between the work and the staple gun such that the ejected staple passes first through the tab and then into the work. The tab serves to increase the staple's holding power, provide a cushion effect during stapling, and otherwise, minimize staple related damage.
The present invention utilizes an indicia bearing member which is fed onto the penetrating member of the device prior to the insertion thereof into the work or article, so that the actual alignment of the indicia bearing member is effected completely independently from the attachment process. Moreover, the present apparatus requires no separate physical manipulation of the indicia bearing member or label during operation and the entire device can be removed from the article without loss of alignment between the label and the penetrating member. Such movement cannot be accomplished with the device taught in the Downie Patent.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and simpler means of marking an article so that only one of the operator's hands is required to operate the fastening gun, so that the label is retained on the needle even if the needle is pointing downwards and so that no great force is required to use the fastening gun.
It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for the application of labels or the like to an article, the apparatus having a magazine for the labels and a magazine for the fastening elements.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a label attaching device which is lightweight and compact, and which can be pneumatically actuated.